On Sep 21, 12:14*pm, John Cochrane
wrote:

Just to be clear, there is nothing I would like to see more than a
vibrant club class with 60 pilots duking it out every year, then going
on to do well at the worlds. Make it happen. I think the whole RC and
team committee feel that way. There is nobody, absolutely nobody,
"against" club class. There is a worry that going about it wrong could
hurt the very successful sports class, produce a small weak
"specialist" class, and lead to more small contests that are money-
losers for the organizers. Address those worries, and you'll get what
you want.

It's very informative to look at the team selection lists John linked
to:

http://soaringweb.org/US_Team/HomePage.html

To be clear, here is what we are doing right now for Club Class world
team selection:

Five pilots "qualified" for the world team in Club Class in 2010 with
one scoring more than 80 points and the others scoring in the 50s and
below. Keep in mind that the points are based only on scores of
participating Club Class gliders, not all competitors, in the Sports
Class Nationals. Including all competitors would lower the scores
further.

Only one pilot flying a Club Class glider even completed two Sports
Class National contests in the past three years, finishing 19th out of
40 and 10th out of 30. The other two pilots each withdrew from one of
the two nationals they competed in. For the contests they completed
they finished 15th and 16th.

The conclusion is that right now qualifying for the world team in Club
Class is not highly competitive, despite the fact that lots of pilots
(many of them highly ranked) compete in Sports Class nationals in the
US. If you can make it to two contests in three years and average out
to the top half of the score sheet you're good for the top slot. For a
second slot you don't even have to do that and you don't have to beat
the other Club Class gliders at the contests where you compete because
the effect of merely attending a second national contest gets you on
the team.

The other classes are in varying states of health, but none as bad as
Club Class:

Open Class isn't in great shape in terms of numbers, but at least
there you have 5-7 pilots who show up at 2-3 contests every three
years and the top three seeded pilots each have won a nationals. There
are 5 pilots above 80 points and three above 90.

World Class has a smaller number of even more dedicated pilots who
duke it out almost every year. Four pilots above 80 points, one above
90, but almost no participation beyond that.

Standard Class has a problem with broad, consistent attendance. Three
pilots above 80 points, all three of them above 90.

18 Meter Class is reasonably healthy. It has 10 pilots scoring above
80 points and four above 90.

15 Meter Class is the healthiest and most competitive with 14 above 80
points and 8 above 90. Twenty-six pilots in 15 Meter have flown
multiple national or international contests in the past three years.

The goal should be to get a cadre of Club Class pilots who can compete
at the top third of the scoresheet to go to two out of three Sports
Class Nationals and try to get their team selection points above 85 or
90 - or host a Club Class nationals that draws more than 15 pilots,
most with real competition track records. Until that actually happens
for a few years, I agree with the team selection committee, the best
bet is either to draw from the broader pool of pilots flying in Sports
Class or not field a Club Class team at all.

BTW, the contention that Club Class gliders can't compete in a
handicapped contest with modern ships is not consistent with the
facts.Just look at the scoresheets. There are Club ships in the top 10
- including at least one win at the national level. One Parowan super
regional was won by a Twin Astir - beating a world team pilot in a
modern ship. The handicaps, if anything favor Club class ships on
average.

If you want a vibrant Club Class make it happen! I think everyone
would love to see it. It's not the rules that stand in the way, it's
apathy.

9B